Method of producing ceramic wares.



n em gre PATENT orator.

- ,EUGENE s. towers, on MERcHANTvILLE, new JERSEY.

ivrnrnon' or rnonucr'ne onaaluro warms.

aaonsa No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENES. Pownns, a citizen of the United States, residing in Merchant'ville, in the county of Camden,

State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Method of Producing Ceramic IV ares, of which the following is a specification.

One of the main objects of my present invention is to devise a novel method of making ceramic ware.

Another ob ect of my present invention is .theproduction of ceramic wares of various shapes and grades with meta-l fibers embedded therein to'impart tensile strength to them, thereby fitting them to be used in Ways heretofore impossible. For example, slabs :of such a material could often be used in place of wood, especially in buildings, thereby making a more permanent construction and reducing loss by fire.

. It will be realized at once by those familiar with the art, that there are three great physical difficulties in the way of producing a ceramic ware with metal fibers embedded.

therein, namely: first, claytthe great matrix material of. theart,. contracts or shrinks while drying, therefore long fibers. of a rigid material like metal, embedded 1n the green Ware would ordlnarily cause said ware to crack when drying; second, the coetlicientof,

expansion of metal is much greater t an clay or any other body material used in the art, therefore long metal ifibers embedded in the ware would ordinarily cause the ware to crack when fired, due'to diiferences in the expansion of the metal fibers and the surrounding body material; third, the metal fibers would ordinarily be destroyed by oxi-,;

dationduring the process of firing the ware. The first of these difficulties I overcome by using (in such amounts as to reduce the shrinkage of the green ware duringdrying to practically zero) in the body'material of which the ware is formed any suitable substance that has no shrinka e or contraction during drying, for exanip e, dehydrated clay, coal ashes, silica, etc. That is a body material, is used, in which the component particles are substantially in contact one with the other. The second of these difficulties I overcome by having the fibers smooth and straight enough to expand freely in the direction of their length. It is preferable to have at least one end of the fibers, except in very short pieces'of ware, free, that is not Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 24, 1908. Serial No. 449,981.

Patented Mar. 1, 1910.

covered by body material. The third or oxidizing the outside of the ware, but I do not continue this oxidation long enough to penetrate to thefibers.

To assure that the fibers will not rust when the ware is exposed to the weather, they are given a fusible inorganic coating, which melts at a lower, temperature than the body material, causing a film of the surrounding body material to completely vitrify when the ware is fired. This coating of flux also serves to free the fibersfrom the surrounding body material and permit them to expand more readlly and consequently lessens the. danger of theirexpansion' cracking the Ware.

Coating the fibers wlth flux also causes the body material, at-

ter the wars has cooled otl,fto hold the fibersmore firmly. After thewares are fired to induration they should be cooled down slowly so. as to reduce and equalize the stresses on the fibers and the surrounding body material, that is, the Ware should pref-v erably be annealed.

Steel, the strongest-and cheapest commercial metal, has a melting point several hundred degrees above the maximum temperature required in ceramics, and therefore is the metal that will be most used in my pr0cess,,but is not the only metal that can be used. The maximum cross-section of any fiber that can be used is that section whose perimetral expansion, under the maximum temperature required to indurate the wares, will not be enough to crack the surrounding body material. One method of procedure in making a cheap ceramic ware with metal fibers embedded therein, is as follows: Take dry coal ashes'and grind them to a. desired fineness and then take dry earth or clay containing hydroferric oxid or other suitable "flux and reduce it to a uniform consistency by grinding or other means, use one part by weight of this dry ground earth or clay to five parts, by weight, of the dry ground ashes, mixing together thoroughly and then stirring in thoroughly sufliclent Water to cause the mixture to ball when squeezed in able bottoms. These molds canbe filled by -.sieves operated mechanically, the wires bea ing placed into themolds at the propertime as they are filling up. After. a moldis filled the body material in it is compressed to'the required thickness by running. the mold under a suitable press. l The green ware or-tile' is removed'from the mold and carried away on the removable bottom of its mold. -The. wireslor metal fibers may be coated with sodium or potassium, sillcateor other suitable flux which preferably melts at 'a lower temperature than the body material.

These green tiles will not have tenacity .enoughto permit, them being stacked up like ordinary ware, but, unlike ordinary ware, can be dried and firedvery rapidly, in fact so rapidly, that drying and firing become one operation. 'And these can be conducted continuously and very economically in some suitable fornrof channel fur- I nace through which the ware is passed on 'trucks onv which they were placed directly from the presses. I

It; is apparent that the above method of procedure can be varied indefinitely, both as regards the materials used and the manner of manipulating them, without departing from myinvent1on. For example, any body material and any flux known to the ceramic art canbe used in place of the ashes and the yellow earth or clay. Furthermore, it is apparent that the flux need not be added to the body material dry and is only added when the, body material is too refractory. In fact it should be readily understood that 'the jonly 'diiference'in preparing body materialfor use in making metal fibered ware and non-metal fibered ware is that it must be prepared so that it willhave practically no shrinkage when changing from a wet to a dry state. Again it should be apparent that the metal fibers and body material need not be brought together in theananner stated above. The only essential is that the fibers be placed in-the body material in such a manner and under such conditions that they can expand without rupturing the surround ing body material and that the body material have a uniform density, the same, as is required of the body material in non metal-fibered ware. The method .of lacing the fibers in the body material is immaterial.

The fibers can be given by any means, a thin coating of any flux as long as it will melt at a lower temperature than the body material. The essential thing about the fibers is that they are smooth and straight enough -to expand in their length without Furthermore the manner of firing is also un- '.essential as, long as the fibers are-not destroyed. Some s ecimens I have made have been dried and red in one operation in an ordinary stove using anthracite pea coal, the specimens bein covered up with the coals. The unprotecte specimens were thus buried in highly heated carbon which until the car- 'bon is well consumed produced below the surface of the coals more carbon monoXid gas, even under forced draft,,than it does carbon diox'id as. The specimens were thus indurated witbout beingoxidized. Other specimens were fired in a-gas kiln but they may be fired in any desired kiln.

In making metal fibered or non-metal fibered ceramic products the physical and chemicalproperties of thexkiln atmosphere is altered to produce desired changes in the appearance, or finish and quality of the product, the only requisite is that the firing be conducted so as not todestroy the fibers.

From the above it is seen that there'is no reason why glazed ceramic wares, also ceramic wares of various colors can not be made with metal fibers in them by my process.

It is to be understood that where in the claims I speak of metal fibers, that by the term fiber I intend to include metal pieces of any desired size or shape which may be used in carrying out. my novel method. It is also to be understood that where in the claims I speak of ceramic objects the term ceramic is to be taken as applying broadly to the potters art which co1nprises all those products made of such body materials as clays, earths, disintegrated, silicious minerals, ashes, etc., of which the products are first formed and then their component particles united and the products indurated by the action of heat on a suitable flux or fluxes naturally or artifically present in the body material.

- Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- -ters Patent, is:

1. The method of making metal reinforced ceramic ob ects, which consists in molding such objects of material which is practically non-shrinkable in drying, coating substantially straight metallic fibers under such conditions that they can expand during firing without rupturing the surrounding body material, and then induratbe destroyed.

3. The method of making metal reinforced ceramic objects, which consists in taking a body material of such a nature that it will not shrink appreciably when changing from a moist to a dry state and at the same time of forming the same into objects embedding therein metal fibers in such a manner that each fiber is separated from the other fibers by the surrounding body mate rial and in such a manner and under such conditions that each fiber can expand during firing without rupturing the surrounding body material, and then indurati'ng the body material by firing in such a manner and under such conditions that the metal fibers will not be destroyed.

4. The method of making metal reinforced ceramic objects,-which consists in pre' paring a body material of such a nature and in such a manner as to avoid shrinkage from drying, and during the process of forming the same into objects embedding in the body materialmctal fibers in such a manner that each fiber is separated from the other fibers by surrounding body material and in such a manner and under such conditions that each fiber can expand during firing without rupturing the surrounding body material, and then firing the body material in such a manner and under such conditions as to pre vent destruction of the metal fibers.

"i. The .incthod of making metal reinforced ceramic objects, which consists in molding such objects of material which is practically nonshrinkable in drying, giving substantially straight metallic fibers a l'lllXl' ble inorganic coating, embeddingthem in the objects being molded, and firing the ob; jects thus repared in a reducing atmosphereto in urate them.

6. The method of making metal rein forced ceramic objects, which consists in molding such objects of body material in which the component particles are substantially in contact one with the other so that there can be practically no contraction from drying, coating substantially straight metal, fibers With a fiux, embedding thefibers thus coatedin the objects being molded, and firing the products thus prepared in a reducing atmosphere to indurate them.

The -method of making metal reinforced ceramic objects, which consists in moldin such objects of a body material in Whicht e component particles are substantiall; in contact one with the other so there can epractical'ly no contraction from drying, coating substantially straight metallic fibers with a fusible silicious mineral, embedding the'fibers thus coated in the products being molded, and firing the objects thus prepared in a reducing atmosphere to indurate them. i J

8. The method of making metalreinforced ceramic objects, which consists in molding such objects of a body material which has its component particles substantially in contact one with the other so there can be practically no'contraction from dry- 1 ing, coating substantially straight metallic fibers with sodium silicate, embedding the fibers thus coated in the objects being molded, and firing the objects thus prepared in a reducing atmosphere. i

EUGENE S. POWVERS. Witnesses:

HERBERT S. FAIRBANKS, C. D. MGVAY. 

